Mallard sleeping, reamains of Otter Lake

On the way back today, I stopped by the remains of Otter lake, also once called little Pierre Lake. When they built the Lachine Canal in the 1820's, this lake was drained and eventually turned into a mega highway going through Montreal. At one of the lowest points, adjacent to the canal, there is a drainage ditch which the city preserved and landscaped as part of the Turcot interchange project. Its main role is to prevent the nearby truck depot from flooding, but this Mallard duck was having a good nap in the shade. If you rode past this, it would just be a storm ditch, but knowing its history adds more meaning. I kind of wish the lake were still here, or I had had a chance to see it, but no drawings or paintings seems to remain, just a few ancient maps from the 18th century. 

Mallard sleeping Otter lake, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Nowhere Montreal, bridges, train, factory

Back in the pandemic year 2020 I rode my bike along an old industrial road that is normally hard to access due to heavy traffic and very noisy. Its an industrial area between east Lachine and ville st Pierre, although condo housing is popping up all around due to its location being near the Lachine canal. Due to it being in between a bunch of neighborhoods, I dubbed it 'Nowhere Montreal'. Perusing Google maps the other day, I was looking for a way to ride my bike onto the other side of the Lachine canal, the side you're not allowed to be on! From an access road off st Joseph blvd (in nowhere Montreal) on the east side of the train bridge underpass, there is a direct lane to a grassy ridge leading down to the canal embankments. There are no railing on this side so I stayed away from the edge. I've painted this bridge many times but always from the other side. You can see the bikes going a long across the canal, I could hear cyclists talking to each other. It was mostly quiet and sunny here, but I didn't stay long it wasn't exactly allowed to be here! 

Other side canal train bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

The first painting I did, its the same bridge but further up on Norman street. A red-orange tanker car said Canada on it, but I changed it, and the graffiti to my initials. There was some really old graffiti on this bridge, by SAKE. He used to write everywhere in Montreal (including nowhere Montreal), but most of his stuff is gone now. I used a lot of bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184) which can go over top of other paint layers to create lime-green foliage. Its a bad habit I know, I like the way it turns the rinse water yellow. My rinse water was olive army-green after today!

 Train bridge and rail car, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

An old factory in Lachine's east side used to make giant steel beams for bridges, such as Cartier bridge and Mercier bridge. Massive overhead cranes are all along its front side, they were used to move the beams around and load them onto train cars. I wrote about it in more detail in a blog from last September. This scene is showing the rear of the old factory in perspective. There was an impressive array of different cladding, and bright blue tarps used to fill holes. It seems they are trying to preserve the structure and not let it crumble down. 

Old beam factory perspective rear, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2026

Here is a side view featuring the textured brick wall and aluminum siding with bright yellow door. Along the top runs a long tinted-glass sun roof, presumably to let natural light into the interior. 

Old beam factory side facade, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

This factory is still functional, its called Corbec inc up on Victoria street. Like the other factory, its exterior is a collage of different cladding including old red brick, red and blue aluminum, green-tinted windows, and a giant aluminum sided warehouse looming in the background. It seems to do metal work from what I can tell. In fact, the internet says it is a galvanizing plant. So, toxic runoff. 

Corbec Inc spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

 

Lachine in spring, pink tree, canal construction

I've been seeing these pink flowering Magnolia trees all around town, they only bloom for about a week and even that depends on weather. This one is in the backyard of a house that backs onto the old part of the Lachine canal, in Lachine proper. You can see part of the canal retainer wall in the foreground. 

Magnolia tree spring Lachine, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking west along the old canal, there is a bike and pedestrian bridge in the foreground, and another footbridge in the background. On the right you see part of st Joseph blvd, and all around are green trees and green grass. I used a lot of bismuth vanadate yellow (PY184) to make all the chartreuse colours today. 

Old Canal Lachine bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

A bike path winds its way along the piece of land between the old canal and the marina. There was a city-plan to 'blow up' this whole sector for five years in order to pave it over with marble interlocking bricks and fountains, but people complained and thankfully so. Its fine the way it is.

Ess shape bike path, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

An old industrial plot has sat empty for many years now, but today I saw that an enormous construction pit was dug deep into the earth. For about two or three stories down its a yellow-ochre earthy shale, then it turns to greyish bedrock. Trees would have put their roots down here, now it will end up being a parking garage. It was interesting to see what the land looked like underneath, you see a section of it towards the right of the pit. The back and left had tall retaining walls. 
Lachine pit, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

Viger square, maze and ferris wheel

Viger square is a large expanse of interlocking brick with concrete features and a few grassy hills. Looking west gave this creepy tree view, back-lit by a strong sun. Dandelions were blooming which created an ethereal glow. 

Creepy tree Viger square, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Most of Viger square is surrounded by highways and bland condo developments, but this building still had its old-fashioned Victorian-style facade. Working from top to bottom I kept as much detail in the roof features as possible. A small drop of paint in the sky was turned into seagulls to hide the mistake. 

Old facade Viger square, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

They installed ridiculously long benches in Viger square, along with pillow-shaped concrete platforms. Wonder what the idea was other than pumping up the contract price? So it becomes a heat desert in the summer, useless the rest of the year. Better than condos I suppose, its a hard place to get a decent painting but I keep trying. 

Long bench Viger square, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Down at Old Port, its starting to fill up with tourists, so I did a painting here before the crowds get any bigger. On the left is part of an old warehouse turned into a maze, on the right is the Ferris wheel. Orange awnings adorned the front of a corner bistro. 

Maze ferris wheel, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Empty lot flowers, shadow corner

Standing on the corner of Rue de Boisbriand and Rue De Bullion, which is along st Catherine east, there are some gritty urban scenes to paint including this empty lot. Sometime around 2019 according to google maps street view which I consulted afterwards, this was a collection of old buildings and shops, then it was demolished in 2020 to make way for... a field of wild flowers and trees. One can imagine this becoming a condo development, like you see in the background. Painting an empty lot is tricky, somehow it has to be a feature element, so I amped up the contrast and made everything around it grey and purple. 

Empty lot flowers, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Same spot, looking west, there is a view of the back of a famous pub called Les Foufounes Électriques. Live bands were playing folk-rock music from the back patio while patrons cheered them on. All four stories of the back-walls were painted black with graffiti over top. Looking at google street view historically, this scene has been covered in a variety of artworks, it seems to change every year. 

Shadow corner graffiti, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking down Rue De Bullion and the entire east wall of the building was in shadow, making all the graffiti and other features pop out. Its been awhile since I got to paint blue shadows... it happens when the sun comes out and the sky is blue, a rare occurrence in Montreal this year! 

Graf wall shadow side, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Pastel colours, Spring rain ending soon?

Thinking it might rain, and it was drizzling a bit, I made a few quick paintings around back of the Benny cultural center after borrowing a few movies. The structure has periwinkle-blue and maroon cladding with pops of pink and yellow. Pale green, cream white, and pink-orange trees were starting to put out flowers and leaf buds. A few dandelions were already up.  

Pastel colour trees Benny, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Looking to the community garden and condos, here is a scene framed by a turbulent cloudy sky. The rain held off for the most part and forecast calls for sunny days ahead. With a long weekend I should be able to get out and paint a few around Montreal, before heading to Bolton for a visit soon.  

Benny community garden spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Spring around Lachine canal and Peel Basin

A prominent bridge goes across the Lachine canal on Monk Boulevard, although the graffiti people have covered a lot of it with their names. I was drawn to the sweeping curve of the canal at this point, with a triangle of spring-green grass dotted with dandelions. In the background is part of Ville-Émard on the other side of the canal. 

Spring grass Monk bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

From the same vantage point but looking south, here is a scene of some dragon boats tied up, ready to go! In the background is one of the many factories that got converted to condos. Its trendy to live in a converted factory in Montreal, they have high ceilings and open plans inside.  

Dragon boats ready to go, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

It just occurred to me that the locks along the Lachine canal have names, this one is the Côte-Saint-Paul Lock, not far from the Monk bridge. The water was high in the lock, being held back by enormous wooden doors, with a walking path on top. I sketched out this painting first with paint in order to get the complex geometry to work. 

Côte-Saint-Paul Lock spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

Down at the the Peel basin, the commuter train, and other trains, rumble by every five or ten minutes. Looking up at the train from this angle was neat, and the trees cast interesting shadows down a grassy embankment. A photographer looked over my shoulder and said, nice work! Some artists talk about how they feel when making art, but the fact is, I actually don't feel anything most of the time. Perhaps there is a sense of anxiety that the painting wont work, its a waste of time and paper etc. On occasion, it occurs to me that I am a painter, and its fun. 

Commuter train spring shadows, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026